Workshop Diary
27th March 2025
Map Making: Turkish Map Fold - Reef Make & Do (Little Walsingham, Norfolk)
3rd & 4th May 2025
Cups of Conversation - Isle of Bute
10th & 11th May 2025
My Journey of 29.5 Steps - Isle of Bute
17th May 2025
Taking a Line for a Walk - Gloucester Lettering Arts - (Highnam, Gloucester)
6th June 2025
Sketchbook Diaries - Reef Make & Do (Little Walsingham, Norfolk)
Turkish Map Fold
We explore the history of maps, mapping elements, design, drawing and lettering while you create your own unique map.
The workshop ends with you folding your maps using the traditional Turkish Map Fold and binding them into a cover to produce a pop up map.
Bring an idea with you to work with. In previous workshops we’ve covered holidays, favourite walks, family farms, family trees, well the list is endless.
I have been running this workshop for over a decade and each map is a discovery both for the student and myself.
I’ll also bring some of my own maps and a small selection from my collection of maps to the workshop.
Sketchbook Diaries
This workshop comes from the author of ‘The Diary of an Artist in Lockdown’.
Learn ways and tricks, to document your life visually, using collage, hand lettering illustration, maps and so much more.
This packed workshop will give you the confidence to start recording not just the wonderful things that happen in life, but also the small details and the tricky moments.
We all know journalling is good for our souls and peace of mind but not everyone can sit and write, some of us want to include drawings and some of us speak in images rather than with words.
We also cover sketchbook nerves and how to overcome that first mark on the page.
If you can draw, think you can’t draw, haven’t drawn for a while, then this workshop is for you. All levels welcome, everyone will learn something and take away a sketchbook and a head full of ideas!
The Vegetable Patch of Life
You will create a small artists’ book that holds flowerpots filled with our closest family and friends, seeds of hope, words of wisdom, rays of sunshine, positive thoughts and we’ll also sieve all the negativity into the compost bin!
Walking around your life’s garden we’ll discover ways to create dawn light and calm moonlight into our daily routines. We’ll also work out how to make the grey dull rain filled days have a positive twist to them!
You will be able to work with collage, drawings, and painting, making envelopes, cut outs and pop ups. You can bring pressed flowers from your own garden, your own bits of ephemera or memories, perhaps some photographs and we’ll create little vegetable and flower patches of happiness and sunshine all captured in a little book that you can keep with you always.
Playful Lettering 1
Walk beside me into the world of lettering.
Let’s play and draw the shapes the proper grown ups call letters!
In this workshop you’ll be introduced to some modern day handwriting and calligraphy styles, as well as visiting a couple of traditional styles with a modern twist.
We’ll explore and learn how your sitting position and holding the pen can make a difference, which pens work with which styles and how to ground ourselves so that we are in control of our writing, not the other way around.
We’ll look at ways to embellish a style, make subtle alterations and how we can manipulate the letter shapes for sketchbooks, letters and envelopes so you build up a personal calligraphic alphabet that you’re confident scribing.
We will cover a lot, so you’ll be tired at the end of the day!
You won’t leave being calligraphers or lettering experts, you’ll leave with your rich style to work on and develop.
The workshop is designed for people who wish to explore, play and improve their hand lettering style. It is not a calligraphy class with hours of drills, it’s very much a taster class of what you can achieve with play.
Playful Lettering 2
Unlike all my other workshops this workshop is only available to those who have completed Playful Lettering 2.
In this workshop we’ll take the lessons learnt from the Playful Lettering workshop and take a saying or short piece of writing to script in our favourite style and learn how to take this forward to an artists’ book with cutout lettering.
The workshop will start by working with out chosen playful lettering style and refine it, looking at the best way to join letters so that they run well together when cut out.
The design of the lettering will be considered and planned for the best visual impact, along with visual imagery to include into your artists’s book to complement the writing.
You will leave with a beautiful concertina artists’ book encased in a loose paper cover to complete your piece.
To join the Playful Lettering Part 2 workshop you will have needed to complete a Playful Lettering workshop.
Cups of Conversation
Create a book with cups overflowing with conversations.
In a series of short missives to a loved one, a friend you haven’t seen for years, an imaginary friend or possibly yourself or a collection of people, we’ll create an illustrated book of the people you’ve written to.
The first day of the workshop will be an inspiring day of bookbinding with Helen Perry of Helen Handmade Books making a Secret Belgian sketchbook. This is a beautiful binding combining the best of western and Japanese bindings resulting in a closed spine which lies flat when open; a very versatile book.
On the second day with Chrissie of Inkpot & Pen, you’ll be creating the content of your Cups of Conversation book. We’ll take the letters you’ve written and on each page will paint, cut out, collage cups for the letters and/or postcards to sit in. Then taking elements of the missive’s content we’ll create pages of illustrations and lettering that reflect the personalities of the people involved and the conversations.
The pages in your book will celebrate and tell a story/stories of your correspondence.
Information regarding some ‘homework’ before the workshop will be sent prior to the workshop after booking.
My journey of 29.5 steps
This workshop is about slowing down and drawing your attention into the micro world around you where we notice the magic, even in the mundane.
In our haste what do we overlook?
Before the workshop you’ll be sent details of how to record in detail and take notes of a short walk of 29.5 steps, the length of the moon’s cycle.
In the morning of day one of the workshop you will be making an A6 Leather Long Stitch Sketchbook with Helen of Helen Handmade Books. We will making a small landscape leather longstitch sketchbook, lined with a decorative Japanese paper and filled with heavyweight Fabriano paper.
In the afternoon and on day two we will be bringing together the details of your short walk (29.5 steps, the length of the moon cycle) to record all the tiny details of your walk you’ve noticed.
We’ll use lettering, collage, colour, drawing to expand the walk over pages in your Long Stitch sketchbook capturing the magical beauty in what could have so easily been forgotten and missed.
You will be sent information about how to collect reference prior to this workshop after booking.
Hidden Stories
Create an artists’ book using ephemera and visual clues to illustrate your short story. Bring a short story idea with you, whether it’s a journey along a walk, meander through a dream, or crime story, whatever you like.
We’ll take that story and use visual prompts, to accompany, explain, embellish and add clues to your story. We can include hidden secrets, pop up surprises, layers of intrigue, letters of mystery, building pages with hand made ephemera that take your reader in a circuitous route to the end whether that’s the end of a walk, the crime solves, or perhaps you’ll leave your reader aimlessly wandering around on a moor not sure what to do next! You can include teasers, wrong turnings in your plot or just go underground to find new worlds in your small book with packed pages.
This is a journey to discover your own imagination. Whether you start with a murder mystery plot or a walk around the park, we’ll embroider the stories into exciting hand made artists’ books.
Workshop testimonials
“Chrissie is a fantastic teacher, she comes armed with a great range of materials, enthusiasm and ideas for all of her workshops. Enabling all of the participants to get the very best out of the session, nurturing and expanding their individual ideas and creativity, even when faced with the inevitable 'but I really can't draw'. It is this ability to truly encourage and give one to one advice that makes the workshops she offers so inspiring and so very special.”
Helen Perry
Owner
Helen Handmade Books
“The professionalism and energy that Chrissie brings to teaching her workshops is truely magical. The students are engaged and encouraged to think 'out of the box' with their chosen project. Importantly they are led along a creative path that far exceeded their expectations.
These workshops are an invaluable addition the the Lettering Arts Trust education programme and also shows that lettering is an emerging art form.”
Lynne Alexander
Edu & Exh Director
Lettering Arts Trust
“Fabulous workshop, would have loved another day though. Chrissie was an amazing teacher with loads of ideas + inspiration.”
“Absolutely LOVED the whole day!”
“The handmade map workshop exceeded all my expectations! Chrissie is a fantastic, bubbly teacher with a warm personality and inspirational style. I loved the flow of the workshop and the style of the folded map in the final book. It was unique and so enjoyable.”
“I have had a wonderful day on this course - inspirational, well organised and so creative and fun.”
“Very inspired, loved the positive feedback & encouragement. Came away with much more than I anticipated. Enjoyed the flow of the day.”
“Utterly amazing good fun. Very inspiring and educational.”
“Loved today’s workshop. It was brilliantly run and great fun, I learnt a lot. the day went very quickly!”
“HUGE thanks for the wonderful workshop at Stapleford last month.
I have kept my Sketchbook diary going - it is a daily joy and a great creative adventure.”
“Thank you Chrissie for the wonderful ideas and guidance I can’t wait for the next workshop.”
“The Vegetable Patch of life is a lovely concept and Chrissie offers lots of help and advice for personalizing it and creating your own artist’s book. Her knowledge of materials and techniques is extensive and she provides lots of resources for inspiration and for execution. Really enjoyable workshop brilliantly taught and facilitated by a warm, knowledgeable, creative teacher.”
“We have had a splendid time today and for the ripples created...
Really appreciate the thought, expertise and hard work behind it all.”